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The famous temple of Madurai Meenakshi is dedicated to Sundareshvara (Shiva) and Meenakshi (Parvathi) The temple was completely destroyed in the 13th century by the Muslim invaders but it was rebuilt in the 14th century when the Hindu kings regained power The original temple was built by Kulasekara Pandya, but the entire credit for making the temple as splendid as it is today goes to the Nayaks. The Nayaks ruled Madurai from the 16th to the 18th century and left a majestic imprint of their rule in the Meenakshi-Sundareswarar Temple. The Madurai is also closely associated with the literary wealth of Classical and Modern Tamil.
History of the temple
As per one legend, Malayadwaja Pandyan, a king of Madurai, had no heir to his throne for a long time. So he conducted yagnas and poojas to please devas. During the course of their ceremonial prayer, a three-year-old girl appeared in the fire and Malayadwaja adopted her. The king brought up the baby, she was named as Meenakshi but the odd feature was that she had three breasts instead of two and it was assured by a divine voice that this would disappear as soon she meets her consort. She was a great warrior and on the way of her tour to victory, she met Lord Shiva in Kailash Mountain and soon the third breast disappeared. Then Lord Shiva married Meenakshi and ruled the kingdom for many years.
As per the other legend, it is said that Lord of Heaven installed the Linga in Kadambavana forest. The fact that the Lord is seen on the vehicle of 'Indira' in this temple is said to be proof for this
Art and Architecture
The Temple complex consists of two sanctums dedicated to Meenakshi and Sundareshwara and many small temples with grand pillared halls. The towers are covered with images of god and goddess, animals and monsters painted in different colours. The Gopuras are of pyramidical structures averaging more than 50 meters height elaborately sculptured and painted.
In Ashta Shakti Mantapam, sculptures curved on the pillars of the temple include childhood life and life as the princes of Madurai Meenakshi, and the miracles of Lord Shiva. In Meenakshi Nayakkar Mantapam, a hall adjacent to Ashta shakti mantapam, consisting of around 110 pillars peculiar animal with a lion's body and an elephant's head called Yalli
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